


Interlude - Musings with the Old Masters

by JasmineTeaLatte



Series: The Phoenix and the Dragon [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Post-The Last Agni Kai (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasmineTeaLatte/pseuds/JasmineTeaLatte
Summary: Avatar Aang and his friends reunite with the Order of the White Lotus following the battle with Ozai and learn of Zuko's sacrifice during the final Agni Kai against Azula.Written as a bonus for my series "The Phoenix and the Dragon."
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: The Phoenix and the Dragon [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847290
Comments: 21
Kudos: 213





	Interlude - Musings with the Old Masters

General Iroh sipped his tea as he waited for the quorum to settle in their seats around the campfire.

He and the Order of the White Lotus had regrouped with Avatar Aang and his friends after Ozai’s defeat in the Earth Kingdom, and they were scheduled to depart for the Fire Nation the next day.

But the manner in which they left depended entirely on the outcome of the battle between Princess Azula and Prince Zuko for the throne.

A message from the Fire Sages had arrived early that morning, addressed directly to him, and somehow he’d found the patience to wait for everyone else to arrive before he read it. As they settled in, he opened the scroll and began skimming its contents silently.

“Well?” asked the young Avatar a bit impatiently after a long pause. “What’s it say?”

Iroh breathed a sigh of relief and beamed.

“He did it,” he said proudly. “Azula forfeited the ancient laws of Agni Kai, and Prince Zuko will be crowned the next Fire Lord.”

Cheers and applause erupted from the younger members of the group as the older members simply nodded and smiled. Master Piandao spoke once it was quiet again.

“What do they mean by Azula forfeiting?" he asked. "Surely she would not have been so careless with so much at stake.”

Iroh, who had been reading ahead, frowned slightly.

“It seems, according to the Fire Sages, that she realized she was losing to my nephew and must have decided to cause as much damage as she could before she lost,” he read. “She aimed her lightning towards a bystander, causing her to forfeit and automatically giving Zuko the victory. My apologies, the sages have never been known to get directly to the point… Oh!” he gasped.

He looked up at Sokka, alarmed. “She was aiming for your sister.”

Master Pakku blanched, while Sokka and Aang both stood and spoke out at once.

“What?! Is my sister okay? What happened?”

“But Zuko was there and he’s the one who showed me how to redirect lightning! Was Katara hurt?!”

Aang's heart lurched, and Toph reached out to squeeze his hand for reassurance. He finally managed to let Katara and all of his attachments go before his battle against Ozai, but suddenly they were all coming back to him. He swallowed thickly.

Iroh silenced them as they sat back down. When Pakku spoke, it was in a cold, quiet tone.

"Please, my old friend. What happened to my granddaughter?"

Technically, Katara and Sokka were his step-grandchildren, but he'd grown to love them just as much as if they'd been his own.

Iroh read aloud somberly how Zuko, upon realizing that Azula intended to kill Katara, immediately leapt in front of the lightning’s path instead, taking the full force of the attack to his heart. Fortunately, he read, his nephew managed to redirect it away at the last possible second before he hit the ground.

There was a collective gasp as several different hands flew to cover mouths in horror.

“But I thought getting shot through the heart with lightning was deadly,” Aang said after a few moments in a low voice. “Azula killed me when she hit me in the back under Ba Sing Se, and it was only thanks to the Spirit Water that Katara was able to bring me back to life. Azula wasn’t powered by Sozin’s Comet back then. How is Zuko even still alive?”

Iroh grimaced, recalling the time his niece had been cornered in an abandoned village.

“When she struck me, fortunately her aim was off, and she just hit my shoulder. But that was some of the worst physical pain I’ve ever endured, and it still took me many months to recover. For Zuko to absorb the full blast like that, even redirecting it away...” Iroh trailed off.

“He must have burned completely from the inside out,” Master Jeong Jeong said softly. “Just like a phoenix drowns in its own flames before it is reborn. It should have killed him immediately.”

Iroh had recovered his wits and continued reading, albeit a bit shakily.

“The sages go on and on about the lightning strike in the sky for a paragraph or so, something about Zuko burning and falling as a true phoenix like Master Jeong Jeong just said, hmm, get to the point already... ah, here it is. After Zuko crashed to the ground, Azula again set her sights on your sister.”

“Miss Katara was able to evade the princess long enough to freeze them both and, using her breath, unfroze enough of herself to chain Azula’s wrists behind her back to a nearby grate, rendering her helpless.”

“Sounds like a firebender’s move,” Bumi mumbled. "That part with her breathing."

“Power in firebending comes from the breath,” Aang explained to no one in particular, since most of the present company knew that already. “Zuko taught me that, too. Katara must have learned it as well.”

Iroh nodded and continued.

“They say once Azula was trapped, Katara ran to Zuko’s side as he lay dying. Against all odds, she called him back from the brink of death with her healing. The sages once again are very poetic and liken her tears to those of a phoenix and her pleas for him to survive as a scene from a great tragedy in the theatre. Then there's something about the phoenix again and now a dragon, ah. After he was revived… _oh_.”

The general paused and forced himself to hide a cheeky grin.

“What?” they all asked, on edge.

With her brother sitting right there, the general decided it was best he skip the next few lines. According to the Sages, Katara told his nephew something they couldn't hear from their shelter, and he had kissed her passionately afterwards. It seemed Zuko had learned something about charming the ladies from his old uncle, after all.

Iroh cleared his throat.

"Then Azula was hospitalized and is currently being cared for under constant supervision by the best doctors and psychologists."

The younger members of the group exchanged looks with each other, except for Toph, who was hiding a grin.

"Yes, but what happened next after she brought him back to life?" Sokka asked a bit testily.

Iroh suddenly wore a serene, albeit crafty smile.

“It just says the Sages emerged from their shelter and proclaimed Zuko as the victor and would be crowned the next Fire Lord,” he finished in an all-too innocent voice.

Aang reached for the scroll, suspicious.

“Can I see that?”

But Iroh quickly rolled it up and tucked it away in his sleeve with a faint smirk.

“Now, now, there’s no time to lose," he announced. "We must make ready to leave first thing in the morning for the Fire Nation!”

The younger ones exchanged glances once more but voiced their agreement along with the rest of the group. As the four friends got up to leave the old masters alone with their musings, Sokka appeared to be deep in thought, and Suki patted his shoulder.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah… just, for Zuko to do that… sacrifice himself and the throne, everything for my sister like that…”

“… It really opens your eyes, doesn’t it,” Aang added softly as they walked away. “He could have easily won it all, but instead he chose to give all of it up if it meant saving Katara...”

He paused. He remembered his conversation with Zuko that night on the beach, when he asked his friend if he'd be willing to live without her if it meant he could be crowned Fire Lord. Now, he finally had an answer.

“I’ll catch up with you guys later," the Avatar said quietly. "I’d like to go meditate for a bit first before we get ready to leave.”

They nodded, and Sokka turned to Suki, suddenly nervous.

"Listen," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can we go somewhere and talk privately? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you, now that the war is officially over."

Intrigued, she nodded and held his hand in hers as they walked away.

However, Toph stayed behind as her friends left. Once only she and the Order of the White Lotus remained, she addressed Iroh directly.

“Okay gramps, I know you were lying just now. What gory details did you leave out? _Something_ happened that you're not telling us about.”

The old general smiled innocently and chuckled.

“You may want to ask your friend Miss Katara for those particular details,” he said politely. “But I’ve heard both a true gentleman and lady never kiss and tell.”

She cringed, threw her hands up in the air, and walked off.

"You know what, on second thought I don't want to know."

After she left, a few members of the Order chuckled amongst themselves, and Pakku looked thoughtful.

"So, Iroh... you know your nephew better than anyone here. I'm grateful he chose to save Katara, but why would he sacrifice himself and the fate of the Fire Nation with so much at stake? Does this mean what I think it means?"

The old general nodded solemnly.

"I believe it does, Pakku. The morning of Sozin's Comet, I noticed a spark between your step-granddaughter and my nephew. It seems he would have rather lost everything else, including his own life, before he lost her."

Pakku looked down and smiled.

"I noticed it as well," he admitted. "I suppose she could do worse... but I'm just trying to picture what Kanna will say."

Jeong Jeong sipped his tea and spoke after a minute of silence.

"What was that bit the Sages mentioned regarding the phoenix and the dragon?" he asked.

Iroh unrolled the scroll again and used his finger to find the paragraphs in question.

"Before Azula forfeited, they describe the Agni Kai as one for the ages, likening both of their firebending to the dragons of old," he said. "One blue, one red, much like Ran and Shaw, who the Avatar and Zuko actually met during their travels. You know how the Sages love finding the symbolism in everything." 

He continued.

"Then when Zuko took the lightning for Katara, they likened the moment he caught fire to the final moments of a phoenix before it is reborn. Indeed, they write he was resurrected when she fought against death and healed him using her tears. I suppose that fits, since the phoenix is associated with Yin and the moon, and the dragon with Yang and the sun."

The others nodded their heads and Piandao spoke.

"It does sound like a legend that Fire Nation children will be told for years to come," he mused. "I wonder..."

Bumi interjected.

"Since no one else is addressing the question in front of us, I'll ask it," he said. "Iroh, do you think your nephew might propose to Katara?"

Iroh just smiled and took another sip of his jasmine tea.

"Bumi, my old friend, I'm wondering that myself," he said. "It would help unite the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation, which would be beneficial in bringing about healing between the nations and ushering us all into a new age. But that depends, I suppose, if my nephew and Miss Katara are willing to face the world together. It sounds like they might, but I believe we'll find out for certain once we arrive in the Fire Nation."

After that, the Order of the White Lotus drank their tea around the campfire in silence until it was time to prepare for their departure.

**Author's Note:**

> When I was planning and writing out the rough drafts for this series, I was originally going to skip over the final Agni Kai since I feel like every fanfic writer has covered it at some point or another, and I felt like I didn't have anything new to add. Instead, I wanted to see how Iroh, the GAang, and the Order of the White Lotus reacted to Zuko's sacrifice. 
> 
> But then, when I wrote Master Jeong Jeong's line comparing Zuko burning from the inside out just like a phoenix does before it is reborn is when inspiration hit me. THAT was the hook I needed for this series. I've seen a lot of fanfics comparing Zuko to a dragon and Katara to a wolf/blackfish/ other Water Tribe symbol, but I haven't seen her compared to a phoenix yet (if I'm wrong, please let me know, I'd love to read it). 
> 
> I'll cover the final Agni Kai in my Day 7 installment, but here's the abbreviated text from the ATLA Wiki entry that inspired the final upcoming installment, as well as the title of the series: 
> 
> "The phoenix, or benu, is a mythical sacred firebird ... with a tail of gold and red plumage, or purple and blue, by some sources, and has a 500 to 1,000 year life cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of myrrh twigs that it eventually ignites. Both nest and bird burn and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again.
> 
> In Chinese mythology, the phoenix, also known as fenghuang, is one of the four Sacred Creatures, the other three being the dragon, the qilin, and the turtle. An androgynous creature, it was also associated with Yin; femininity, the moon, and the earth, as opposed to the dragon, which represented Yang; masculinity, the sun, and the sky. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. It is also associated with fire, justice, obedience, and fidelity. 
> 
> The bird was also said to regenerate when wounded, essentially making it immortal and invincible. Similarly, it is asserted that a phoenix can heal a person with its tears, and even temporarily make them immune to death."


End file.
